Index for cocks or faucets.



P. MUELLER & A. O. SGHUERMANN.

INDEX FOR COGKSOR FAUCETS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.26. 1912.

1,049,591. Patented Jan. 7, 1913.

r="- 1 55 T? 5 /r uvm L 0'64 imp wad/6r l handles for cocks or faucets, and has to do iUN EDSTA S PATE T OFFICE I 331L112 mun'nnrm rin Aaron '0. scnunnmenn, or nncartmrnnmors, nssrenons ii 'ronruunnwn ure. 00., or DECATUR, rumors, A CORPORATION or rnrzmors.

' Innnx ron cocxs on FAUCETS. l I i a i Specification of Letters Patent. Patented'Jan, 7,19i3 7 .Application filed February 26,1912 Serial No. 680,042.

handle member withjthe index applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view g of the same; Fig. 3 is "a plan view;fFig.4 United States, residing at Decatur, 1n the is a vertical sectional view of a slightly 5 county of Macon'and State of Illinois, have modified form of index; and Figs. 5, 6 and invented new and useful Improvements in 7 arenfurther slightly modified forms of the Indexes for'Cocks' on Faucets, of which the invention. 1 following is a. specification. 1 Referring to the drawings, and more par The present invention relates generally. to ticularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 thereof, the reference numeral 10v designates ahandle member, which, it will be understo0d,.may be'of any preferred construction, the par ticular form of handle member being immal terial so far as the present invention is'con" "corned. The form of handlemember'illustratedis of the type usually employed-in I r connection-with sel -closing faucets, but as before stated, so. far as the present invention "is concerned, the handle member may be of any desired construction and may be suited Z to any style offaucet, whether of the self: W closing or compression type. 4 p i The handle member 10 s provided in its}; upper face with an internally-threaded counter-bore or socket 12- at-the base of '1l which is a seat portion 13. with a central I opening 1 l through which-may project, or by which access may be had to, the usual valve stem of the faucet (not shown). f V In the form of invention 'illustrated inj. Figs, 1, 2 and 3, the index 15 which is usually made of porcelain, and which has imprint-ed; or. delineated thereon proper characters to, indicate hot or cold, as thecasemay be,

,is carried by a thimble 16, the said thimble To 'all rwhom it my concern -Be tgknown that we, PHILIP MUELLER and Armor?" .0. "SCHUERMANN, citizens of the more thereo I As is well understood in the plumbing art, bath .and basin [cocks or' faucets are 15 usually provided with indexes in order that thosefor-hot and cold water, respectively,

' maybereadily-distinguished from one another. In some casesthe indexes have been immovably fixed to the handles of the cocks; while in others theyhave been removably' and interchangeably =a't-ached thereto: 'by. .means of a screw ring which v binds} uponithe face of the index; That t pe. ..wherei"the indexes" are immovably' 2 xed'; iS Objectionable because it is necessary the the, cocks orfat least the handlesthere: of, be associatedwith theparticular supply pipe' designated" bythe index which it'car ries,iand their use is, therefore, limited. In the case? of the other types, namely, that wherein, the indexes -are removably and interchangeablv attached by means of afscrew ring, considerable difliculty has arisen by reason of the fact that it is practically impossiblr toaccurately adjust the index so particularly with the index feature that it will-readproperly from the front of the faucet, and to maintain the adjustment while screwinghome the attaching ring, because ofthe tendency of the index to turn with its attachingring "while the latteris being screwed home, with; the result that when the rin'g isscrewed to its limit, the

just'edposition. 7 It is the purpose of the present invention to provide'an 1 dex. and retaining means therefor, wherebythe index maybe readily and quickly erly, and when once tamed against accidental movement.

-- In the accompanying drawings wherein index will have been-shifted out of its adapplied to or removed .froma faucethandle and wherein the said index may be accurately adjusted toread propadjusted will be main-- being provided at its base with'a peripheral projection,

13" when the end of the thimble,

preferably in the-form of an annular flange 17, which rests upon 'the seatparts are assembled; The index v15 is firmly-secured to the thimble 16 by crimping orrolling the upper reduced as at 18, around the;

index 15, as morerclearly" shown in Fig.2. 1

The reference numeral 19 designates alocke ing sleeve which is externally threaded at its lower end to coiiperate with the threads 12 in the counter-bored portion of the handle member and the said sleeve is, by pref; erence, knurled on its peripheryv to permit" of readily screwing the same into the coun-" terbored portion of the handle member and when screwed in position, the function of the sleeve is to bind..- firmly against the flange portion 17 of the thimble and press the latter firmly against theseat .13, where portion of. the handle member or in any by to lock the said thimble and the index carried thereby against accidental turning movement.

It has been discovered that with this construction and arrangement of parts, when the index member has been initially placed in position to read properly, it will not mox e its index member is first. placed within the counter-bored portion of the handle member with the index member in position to read properly from the front of the faucet, that is to say, the word on the index member is brought into alinementwith the projecting other proper position so that the word will read properly from the front or spout portion of the faucet, as. is well understood. The index may then be held in its adjusted position by hand while the sleeve 19 is being screwed home and as soon as the lower end thereof engages with the flanged portion of the thimble the latter will be locked against rotation. The result is that the index member, when once set and locked in osition by the locking sleeve can not move rom such position unless the sleeve is loosened. Preferably the sleeve 19 is shorter than the thimble 1 6 and'its associated index member, so that there will be a certain length of the thimble rojecting above the sleeve whereby. the index may be readily held against movement while the sleeve is being screwed home.

In the form of invention illustrated in Figs. 1, 2' and 3, we have shown the in ex as being made in the form of a porcelain button and firmly secured .to a metal thimble 16. If desired, we may make the index'and the thimble of one piece of material 16, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the flange 17*, being formed integral therewith. I

In the form ofinvention illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the thimble 16 is shown as provided at its base with one or more lugs 16, which are designed to enter correspond ing sockets 16 in the seat portion 13 of the handle 10, the lugs serving to positively prevent turning movement of the thimble 16 and its index, relative to the handle member. In this construction the sockets 16 in the handle member will, of course, be so arranged that when the thimble, with its index, is associated therewith, the word on the index member will read properly, and we prefer to employ a plurality of sockets 16 in the seat portion 13 of the handle member which will be properly spaced so as to permit of any desired adjustment of the index much as the index is readily removable, the

'counterbored portion of thehandle member,

member with reference to the handle member. The lugsreferred to may or may not be employed, as desired, and their use is entirely optional, but by employin the lugs it will be apparent that the thimb e with its index member will, when once adjusted and set,.be positively locked-against movement.

In Fig. 7 we have shown a slightly modifled form of the invention which is somewhat the reverse of the. otherformjs illustrated in that the handle member 10 is provided with an upwardly projecting and externally-threade'd collar 12, the upper end of .which. forms a'seat13 u on which the flange 17? of the index mem er rests. The 0 ,index member, in the instance shown, may "be formed entirely of metal ,or porcelain, or, if desired, may be constructed like the index memberillustrated'in Fig. 2 with the flange l7 formed integral with ,the thimble 16.

The reference numeral 20 inthis Fig. 7 designates a locking sleeve which is internally threaded at its lower end to vcooperate W1 the external threads of the collar 12, and at its upper end the sleeve is formed with an overhanging portion, as ashoulder 21,1to engage the flange 17 to force the latter firmly against the seat 13 and thus retain the index in posit-ion and against accidental movement.

By the construction of index member and locking means herein shown and described, it will be apparent that we have provided a very simple arrangement of parts that will permit of the index member being readily :attached to or removed from a handle member and one that ma be easily adjusted to read properly and, w en once set, will retain its a justed position. Furthermore, inassame may be applied to the handle and adjusted after the latter has been attached to the faucet; and by removing the index, access may be gained through the opening in the handle member to the stem portion of the valve, which is desirable in certain types of faucets.

What we claim is:

1. In combination with a handle member having an internally threaded counterbore 115 providin a seat at the base thereof, an in dex mem er'resting on said seat and a sleeve slidable over the index member and being oi a height less than the height of the member and having threaded engagement with the said sleeve'constituting a connection between. the index member and the 'handlemember l and serving to retain the indexmemberw against rotative movement. i

having a threaded portion and a seat at the m;

base of the threaded portion, a thimble rests t.

ing on the base and rlsing bovethehandla an index mounted on'sald ,thimbl'e, and1j at13p v the segie ft se' bese end fromi oeetion.

" 3 Adejme; peelfiedcompnsnig a henlejl hiving an'i'interhelly wthreaded bore in b6re,' e"thimb1e fitting-fin the bore and hav- "an .butwardly extending flange resting bn' 's'aidsea t, an indexmember mounted on said .iihimb1e,: end a. ceupling sieeve loosely @engagin'g ever 'the th' "h'le'end-withi the threads of the handl' seideleeve-e epted to be screwed dowiyin e'j here agaih said flange whereby ,'tehold the Tthimble to. the eeatenfi preyelit the :tugningef the thimble; ie-A device as specified comprising a hendIe "having an internally threaded bore with a seat in the,base 011 the "bore, a, thimbie "saidfthimble whereby t0 hold upp emiside ane seat at, the bake of the fitting in the hole end having a'flenge eh its inner end resting on said seat, an index earned 1n the thunble, and a sleeve threaded 1n the bore and adapted to be turned doWn' upon said flange whereby to bind said thir'nble to the seat, said flange being of less height than the 'thimbl whereby to expose the upper portion of the thimble and being loose about the thimble whereby to turn freely on the thimble when screwed into the bore.

In ftestimony whereof We have hereuiito set our hands in' Witnesses.

PHILIP MUELLER.

} ANTON C. SOHUERMANN.

j/vitnessesz I l a C IHERIN E. MeKeown.

presence of two euhs eribing 

